Since 2010, incidents of medical ID theft have nearly doubled, according to recent research from the Medical Identity Fraud Alliance.
In addition, “While the average cost per victim went down, the number of victims having to encounter out-of-pocket costs doubled,” says Patterson, MIFA’s senior vice president and program director.
The latest research was conducted before the recent high-profile breaches at Anthem and Premera Blue Cross, so it’s too early to determine impacts from those incidents.
But Patterson says, despite a rise in breaches, the most common source of medical ID theft remains family and friends. These fraud incidents, perpetrated by people whom the victims know, constitute about half of all recorded medical ID fraud cases, she says.
Patterson discussed the topic in a session titled “Medical Identity Theft: Understanding the Scope, Consequences and Prevention” at Information Security Media Group’s recent Healthcare Information Security Summit in Boston.
In a video interview at the event, Patterson discusses:
- The latest medical ID theft trends;
- Results of MIFA’s Fifth Annual Study on Medical Identity Theft;
- How healthcare organizations must respond.
Click here to watch the video.
June 25, 2015 by Tom Field, HealthcareInfoSecurity
